Hook.



' No. 724,428. I PATENTE'DIAPR; 7, 1903. L. H. BOWMAN.

HOOK.

APPLICATION IILED APB. I7, 1902.

K0 MODEL.

wmwm UITED STATES ATEN OFFICE.

LEWIS I- BOWMAN, or RAOINE, WISCONSIN.

HOOK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 124,428, dated April 7,1903.

Application filed April 17, 1902.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEWIS H. BOWMAN, acitizen of the United States,residing at Racine, in the county of Racine and State of WVisconsin,have invented a new and useful Hook, of. which the following is aspecification.

The presentinvention relates to hooks, and more particularly to hooks ofthat class described in patent numbered 652,556, granted on June 26,1900, to James A. Gavitt,of which I am now part owner. In the use of thepatented structure it has been found that the tongue employed soonwears, so that it is very loose and can readily slip back to open theentrance-throat when there is no strain applied to the hook. Furtherthan this, the structure is comparatively expensive to manufacture.

The object of the present invention is to improve the above constructionand overcome both of the objections mentioned by providing a structurein which the tongue will be held from accidental unlocking and the wearthereof will be compensated for, this Structure being exceedingly simpleto manufacture.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in thedrawings, wherein Figure 1 is a perspective view of the hook when in itsunlocked position. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through thesame when in its closed or locked position. Fig. 3 is a bottom plan viewof the hook. Fig. 4: is a cross-sectional view of the same. Fig. 5 is aperspective View of the tongue-blank.

Similar numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawings.

In the embodiment of the invention the body of the hook is formed of asingle piece of wire doubled upon itself'and formed into a terminal loop10' at one end, from'which projects a pair of spaced shank-sections 11,arranged side by side. These sections each carry a bill 12, that formsthe terminal hook, these bills being also arranged side by side, but inspaced relation, and having their terminals spaced from the shank toform the entrance-throat 13.

The tongue 14: is preferably made of Sheet metal'and is slidably mountedbetween the Serial No. 103,442. (No model.)

shank and bill sections, being provided with a socket 15, thatcorresponds to the space -within the hook, and having a keeper-jaw 16,

that is'movable across the throat 13. The tongue,furthermore,has anupstanding actuating-finger 17, that is movable into the space withinthe hook and is arranged to fit be tween the bills, as will be readilyunderstood. The shank-sections are so formed that their tendency is tospring or spread apart; but they are held in parallel relation by asleeve 17, that is carried by the tongue and surrounds both sections.This sleeve is prefer ably made up of collars formed from integralleaves 18, that are attached at one end to the tongueand are bent aboutthe shank-sections in opposite directions, as will be clearly evident byreference to Figs. 3 and 5, the intermediate leaf or collar beingprovided with a thumb projection 19.

In applying the hook to a loop or ring it is first arranged in theposition shown in Fig. 1, the ring being then passed through the throat13, and strain being applied thereto or the tongue being moved by handthe keeperjaw will be projected across the throat, thereby closing thesame and locking the ring or loop within the hook. The tongue is heldagainst retrograde movement by its frictional engagement of the sleeve1'7 with the shanksections, so that when the strain is released from thebook there is no danger of said tongue slipping backwardly; ,When thetongue becomes Worn from continued use, the shank-sections will spreadoutwardly, thus taking up the wear, so that the frictional engagementbetween .said sections and the sleeve will always be maintained. This isan extremely important feature, as it obviates the objection noted inregard to the previously-patented device. Further than this, the presenthook can be manufactured at extremely'small cost, as one of the elementsis of wire, which can be easily bent to proper form, while the other isof sheet metal, the blank of which may be stamped out and afterwardapplied to the wire body.

From the foregoing it is thought that the construction,operation,andmany advantages of the herein-described invention will be apparent tothose skilled in the art without further description, and it will beunderstood that various changes in the size, shape, proportion, andminor details of construction may be resorted to without departing fromthe spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desiretoseen re by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a hook, a shank comprising sections that are arranged to spreadapart, a hook carried by the shank, a sleeve slidably mounted on theshank and frictionally engaging the portions thereof that spread, and akeeperjaw carried by the sleeve and movable into coacting relation withthe hook.

2. A book comprising a wire doubled upon itself to provide a shankcomprising sections arranged side by side, and carrying terminal billsconstituting a hook, said bills having their free ends spaced apart thefree end of which is spaced from theshank, and a tongue slidably mountedupon the shank-sections and movable across the space between the sameand the hook, the free end of the tongue belilng movable between thespaced ends of the bi s.

3. In a hook, a shank comprising spaced sections carrying a terminalhook, the free end of which is spaced from the shank, and a tongueslidably mounted upon the shank and movable across the space between thesame and the hook,said tongue having a sleeve that surrounds theshank-sections.

4. In a hook, a shank comprising outwardlyspringing sections carrying aterminal hook, the free end of which is spaced from said shank, and atongue slidably mounted upon the shank and movable across the spacebetween the same and the hook, said tongue having a sleeve thatsurrounds the shank-sections.

5. In a hook, at body comprising a wire doubled upon itself to formshank-sections arranged side by side, said sections carrying curvedbills that constitute a hook, the free end of which is spaced from theshank, and a tongue slidably mounted upon the shank and movable acrossthe'space between the same and the hook, said tongue having a sleevethat surrounds the shank-sections.

6. In a hook, a body comprising a wire doubled upon itself to form aterminal loop and outwardly-springingshank-sections arranged side byside and carrying curved bills, said bills being also arranged side byside and constituting a hook, the free end of which is spaced from theshank-sections, and a sheetmetal tongue slidably' mounted upon the shankand movable across the space between a the same and the hook, saidtongue having a sleeve that surrounds theoutwardly-springingshank-sections.

'7. In a hook, the combination with a body comprising a wire doubledupon itself to form shank -sections arranged side by side, saidshank-sections carrying curved bills thatconstitute a hook, the free endof which is spaced from the shank,and a sheet-metal tongue slidablymounted upon the shank and movable across the space between the same andthe hook, said tongue having a sleeve that surrounds the shank-sectionsand is composed of integral collars bentabout the shank from oppositesides thereof.

8. In a hook, the body composed of shanksections arranged side by sideand carrying curved bills which are spaced apart and constitu to a hook,the free end of which is spaced from the shank, and a tongue arrangedand movable in the space between the bills and provided with a jaw whichis movable across the space between the hook and the shank to close andopen the same, the free end of said jaw being movable between the endsof the spaced bills.

9. In a hook, the body composed of shanksections arranged side by sideand formed with curved bills at one end constituting a hook, the freeend of which is spaced from the shank, and a sliding tongue carried bythe shank-sections and having a movable jaw which engages betweentheextremities of the curved bills to close the hook.

10. A book comprising a shank, and a pair of bills having their freeends spaced apart, said bills constituting a hook, the free terminal ofwhich is spaced from the shank, and a sleeve slidably mounted upon theshank and carrying a keeper-jaw that is movable across the space betweenthe shank and free end of the hook, the end of said jaw being movable toa position between the spaced terminals ot' the bills.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

LEWIS H. BOWMAN.

Witnesses:

BYRON B. NoR'rHRoP, C. H. BILL.

